A police officers reading list

[Ken]

Not all knowledge comes from a book, but I believe that it is a good place to start a foundation. Therefore I am asking all police officers out there what books they recommend for other officers and for future officers to read?

[Sparky]

Each and every book in the CRC Series in Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations, Vernon J. Geberth, BBA, MPS, FBINA Series Editor

Try Amazon.com. Great folks.

Subscribe to the trade pubs: Law and Order Magazine, Law Enforcement Technology, FBI Law Enforcment Bulletin, and join ASLET even if you aren't a trainer...you get a subscription to their magazine too!

REMEMBER to keep up with your expenses....cost for these bools and magazines are TAX DEDUCTABLE!!!


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-Sparky
Fiat justina.

[MSchelling]

I really like the Calibre Press triad: "Street Survival", "The Tactical Edge", and "Tactics for Criminal Patrol", and, "Total Survival" by Ed Nowicki.

In periodicals, I like Law & Order, Law Enforcent Product News (for all the newest toys), and the Accident Investigation Quarterly and Accident Reconstruction Journal.

[The Cynic]

Personally the best ever police book I've read is "The anatomy of motive" by John Douglas. He was the main profiler for the FBI and is the one who really started the whole science of profiling. He's also the person who inspired Thomas Harris to write Silence of the Lambs and other books in that series.

He's written a lot of books but the one above is the best as far as regular police work. In it he describes whats going on in the minds of sex offenders, arsonists, etc. He describes what kind of person they likely are and gives you a lot of new insight into how to investigate those crimes.

[Stephen]

Do you all have any web links to the above referenced periodicals?

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--Stephen
Park Cities Tactical

[MSchelling]

Originally posted by Stephen:
Do you all have any web links to the above referenced periodicals?



Try: www.calibrepress.com (http://www.calibrepress.com) www.lawandordermag.com (http://www.lawandordermag.com) www.law-enforcement.com (http://www.law-enforcement.com)
AIQ & AIJ can be subscribed from Mr. Victor Craig (a world-renowned expert in AI/AR) at PO Box 234, Waldorf, MD 20604.

[Stephen]

Thank you!

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--Stephen
Park Cities Tactical

[RaychelR]

Welcome to the forum Stephen http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif

[GDenman]

It's an old one and I don't remember who wrote it but it is titled, "Officer Down, Code 3". It goes over the mistakes officers made that got them killed.

[Stephen]

Originally posted by RaychelR:
Welcome to the forum Stephen http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif


Thanks - nice to be here http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


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--Stephen
Park Cities Tactical

[MSchelling]

A few years ago, I also read Connie Fletcher's "Pure Cop" and "What Cops Know". Some of the entries are informative, some gut-splitting funny, and some sad and depressing. All in all, they can be rather enlightening.

[Bonk]

Definitely the three big Calibre Press books, and try to get to one of their seminars if you can.

Magazines - I get "Police Marksman". I dropped "Police" after I realized how anti-gun it was.

Also check out anything written by Loren Christensen, a retired Portland OR cop. "Far Beyond Defensive Tactics" is well worth it.

[Don]

Aw come on guys, real cops don't need no stinking books. We get all our training by watching old Adam 12 and CHiPS re-runs while eating our donuts! http://www.officer.com/ubb/wink.gif

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Stay safe out there,
6P1 (retired)

[Don]

I have to agree on the Calibre Press books.
Also, Pierce Brooks has some good (if older) books out on officer safety.

In rereading the posts, I see that GDenman has already mentioned Brooks book "Officer Down, Code Three". While this book was published in 1975 it still has a lot of good information.

Another good one is "The Gentle Art of Interviewing and Interrogation by Robert Royal and Steven Schutt. This is published by Prentice Hall.

If your looking for some light reading material you might want to check out "The Ticket Book" by Rod Dornsife. He was a renegade San Diego Motor Cop who left the department for what ever reason. His book is all about how to get out of tickets. It really is quite funny, as well as being full of BS.

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Stay safe out there,
6P1 (retired)

[LeeRoy]

John Douglas' book Mindhunter was very interesting. It had some good tips on interview and interrogation.

I also would recommend Connie Fletcher's books for some good laughs (and some cries too).

For all of you Amazon.com heads out there. You know most towns have these buildings where you can go in and actually get books to take home for FREE. Yes visit your local library and don't be too shy to ask the librarian if you can't find the book you're looking for.

[John from Maryland]

Once again, Don comes up his his typical left coast prejudice. Adam 12 and CHIPS he suggests. Everyone knows the best TV show to obtain quality training from is HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET.

There are many good suggestions on reading material. If you're interested in firearms use, I'd suggest any of Gabe Suarez's books (www.thehalogroup.com). While Paladin Press has many books that are anti-law enforcement and advocate insurgency against the government, they also publish quite a few valuable law enforcement books, FAR BEYOND DEFENSIVE TACTICS being one of them.

[Don]

John,

I apologize profusely, http://www.officer.com/ubb/wink.gif I should have said watching "Car 54 Where Are You".
http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Sparky]

Also try:
http://www.letonline.com

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-Sparky
Fiat justina.

[John from Maryland]

As seldom as I get to say this, Don, I don't take your reference. CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? was before my time. I'm of the ADAM 12 generation. I do believe that Toody & Muldoon were the only cops on TV who carried slapjacks, however, so it wasn't that far before my time.

I should suggest "Street Cop" and "Street Crime Investigations" by Donovan Jacobs, retired SDPD. They're available through Paladin Press and/or Calibre Press. While some information has a California flavor (I guess you can contact that pot-smoking, free-loving hippie Don for details), both books offer good advice for legal, aggressive street policing.

Be safe.

[Ken]

I want to thank everyone for their input, I have already ordered some of the books mentioned, and I am looking for the others to order in the near future.
Unfortunately since I am not a sworn officer yet I was unable to access the restricted area of Calibre Press, where some of the books mentioned are located. Oh well I will get to those later.

Oh by the way as a future CHP officer I am partial to CHiP's.

[Don]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by John from Maryland:
(I guess you can contact that pot-smoking, free-loving hippie Don for details

Uh John,

Where ever you're comming from, that probably should be pot-bellied and freedom-loving. (My substance of choice is cigars), and while I do have a beard (since I retired) I would never have been mistaken for a hippie.


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Stay safe out there,
6P1 (retired)

[dkiefner]

Car 54 - LOL. Hadn't seen that one in years!

Can't argue with any of the books. One not already mentioned - I like Chip Morgan's "Focused Interviewing".

[Michael J Pannell]

My two favourites are

Butterworths Police Law ( for uk officers ) as it is clear and concise and covers every offence you could possibly think of.

Also John Douglas's 'crime classification handbook' is particularly interesting. It breaks down the more serios offences like murder, rape and arsons into motive, likely perp etc and gives some useful offender profiling tips as well as detailed information on likely places for perps to hide evidence etc. Although written from an american law enforcement view point this book should still be considered a worthwile read by Officers from other countries.

[waltitia]

Contemporary Criminal Procedure by Gould Publication...www.gouldlaw.com

Best Supreme Court Case Law book I have ever read. Nothing but cases relating to LEOs and to boot exactly what happened in each case. The cases start out like a normal report ie "Officer so and so from whatever dept was on routine patrol in the area of wherever when...etc"
Only sold to police.

And..." Street Crime Investigation" from the Calibre Press Site. Best crime investigation book I have ever read...none of that irrelevant crime scene preservation DNA/Evidence stuff...it was actually about how to conduct a criminal investigation for cops, not lab techs. I have to say, that the very first page impressed me for it had a title with something I wrote in a suggestion letter to the Commish earlier this year. My thoughts when opening the book and reading the Chapter title were "godd**n, this has got to be a good book. Its about time."

[This message has been edited by waltitia (edited 08-27-2000).]

[kd5hqd]

To Cynic-
Yeah, John Douglas is an excellent writer. I first read Mindhunter by him, also about his cases he's worked and about the Serial Crime Unit as well as the ISU that he started. He is the one who really got me interested in Federal Law Enforcement!!

Kyle

[EV]

A good book to read reguarding topics and issues of todays "pop" American culture is "THE O'REILLY FACTOR" by Bill O'Reilly from Fox news channel's The O'reilly Factor. He gives the reader a good tast of the food for thought as to why things are the way they are today in America.

[FinCop]

Originally posted by Ken:
Not all knowledge comes from a book, but I believe that it is a good place to start a foundation. Therefore I am asking all police officers out there what books they recommend for other officers and for future officers to read?

Dear colleague,

Read Vaino Linna's Unknown Soldier and you will never be the same again. It tells very much how we people can work together even under war.

I promise you this is no joke.

rgds,

FinCop

[Underdog]

I've read some of the suggested publications and agree that there is some valuable information there.

Once in a while, however, I try to approach this from the opposite perspective and read some of the books written by the bad guys. There are many books out there with interesting titles like "How to Make Home Made C-4", "How to Make Improvised Firearms", "New ID in America", etc. There are also many autobiographies written by some very hard core bad guys. Some biker and drug culture magazines can also be interesting.

It's important to remember that the suspects know what they are doing before we in law enforcement ever learn about the new trends. Unfortunately, police trainers and writers can not teach about new trends until they have learned what the trends are.

While I do not necessarily like to give my money to some of these people and causes, it is important to know what the opposition is up to. Knowledge of the enemy can help improve the quantity and quality of arrests and can help to save lives.

[David]

Ken,

Fundamentals of Criminal Investigations was my first big jump. It was also the text that Georgia Bureau of Investigations Agents, GBI, had to be familiar with to pass their test for becoming one.

The Book of "How We Should Do Our Job" would be a great one to read... I guess it's still being put together.

A lot of people quote from it. But for the life of me, I can't find a copy. http://www.officer.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

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I'm lost...I've gone to look for myself. If I should return before I get back, please ask me to wait. Thanks, David!

[This message has been edited by David (edited 12-01-2000).]